Heya Ladies and Gentle...furs.

It's  Ghosty writing and yeah ... you guessed right...little bearkitty trashed his kitchen again.
Naw, just joking, it's not that bad.
Today I bring you some Indian style dish, a nice lentil stew called Masoor Dal.
Simple, down to earth food. Thick, hearty and aromatic, full of spices. I didn't make it too hot, because sadly I wouldn't be able to eat it then ... but you can always make it as hot as you like by adding green Indian chili.
The amount of spices is not set in stone, use them to your own taste

Ingredients:
(3-4 servings)
300g red lentils
3 carrots
2-3 tomatoes
2-3 garlic cloves
1 red onion
1 piece of ginger (~ the width of a finger)
1 stick of cinnamon
~2 heaped tsp ground coriander seeds
~1-2 heaped tsp cumin
~1 slightly heaped tsp tumeric
4 green cardamom pods
2 bay leafs
~1 tps Garam Masala
~1200ml of vegetable broth (preferably homecooked) or a mix of vegetable stock and water (please do yourself a favor and don't use that powdered stuff)
Ghee or clarified butter
Greek yoghurt or cream yoghurt (as Dahi is pretty hard to get)
Salt, Pepper
Optional: dash of lemon juice
Optional: hot green Indian Chilies
Optional: Naan bread or other flatbread

Preparation:
Peel carrots and cut into small cubes. Wash tomatoes, take out the green stem and the wobbly seeds (as they only add water and no taste) then cut into pieces.
Peel onion, ginger and garlic and chop finely. Alternatively you can grate the ginger finely.
Rinse the lentils in a sieve until the water runs clear.
In a large enough pot heat up some Ghee or clarified butter, add onions and gently sweat them until glassy.
Add garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander seeds, tumeric, Garam Masala, cinnamon, cardamom pods and bay leafs and continue to carefully fry on low heat. Make sure you don't burn the spices.
Now put in the carrot, mix well, then gently fry a few minutes longer.
Add tomatoes and lentils, pour in the vegetable broth and turn up the heat. Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down again and let it simmer for another 15-20 minutes.
Stir from time to time so nothing sticks to the pot. If too much of the liquid evaporates, cover your pot with a lid and add some more broth.
Season to your taste with salt, pepper and maybe a dash of lemon juice (and your chilies, should you want to use them).
It's ready when the stew thickens and the lentils are soft.
While you wait for the dish to finish simmering, crisp your Naan bread in the oven for a couple of minutes.
Take out the cardamom pods, bay leafs and cinnamon stick.

Dress your Masoor Dal on a soup plate, add a nice blobb of yoghurt or serve with some warm Naan.
Enjoy your stew ^_^